When the relatives decide upon the funeral proceedings and determine that the body is to be exposed, it is the responsibility of the embalmer to make certain that the preservation of the appearance of the body of the deceased is as natural looking as possible. The traditional method used to accomplish this task consists of wiring the maxillary bone, that is the upper jawbone, to the mandible, the lower jawbone. The use of wiring methods is dependent upon the existence of bone structure that would support such use.
Another option is the use of a mandible suture. This method is used when the lower jaw tissue has undergone degeneration due to disease or trauma. A suture is inserted between the lower lip and gum and brought out at a point just behind the chin and then the needle is reinserted into the same hole and brought up behind the mandible through the floor of the mouth just beneath the tip of the tongue. The upper portion of the suture is then attached to the upper jaw to complete the suture. This method is difficult to use and has the added problem of distorting the appearance of the lips.
In cases where the deceased has died of the result of trauma resulting in disfigurement of the face or jaw or where the deceased has experienced substantial bone loss or disease, proper mouth closure is difficult if not impossible to obtain with current methods. There is not found in the prior art a reliable, easily insertable apparatus that permits adjustment to readily achieve a correct anatomical position and provides a natural mouth closure.